Dive Brief:
- The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles Utah Valley University and its president Matthew Holland, who describes the benefits and challenges of growing from a technical school to the state's largest public institution of higher learning, with more than 34,000 students.
- UVU, which offers two- and four-year degrees, remains an institution dedicated to providing workforce development through its vocational offerings, while seeking to reach new levels of research.
- The institution expects to enroll more than 40,000 students by 2020, and Holland says it will be an invaluable resource in the industrial development of the state.
Dive Insight:
Schools like Utah Valley and the University of the District of Columbia are the future of higher education, where one institution or one system can address the full needs of a city or state's workforce with multiple resources for education. These institutions, and their performance, often are the blueprints other states use for merger and consolidation discussions, even if mergers and consolidations are not always the best model for success.
However, the notion that one student can earn multiple credentials and degrees from one institution charging in-state rates should be attractive to families and students, and could be particularly attractive to lawmakers who continue to seek ways to cut higher ed spending even in the midst of economic recovery.